Chapter 12:

"Well, I guess that's everything," James said, slamming the boot of the car after squishing in Lily's last bag of luggage.
"Yep...I guess so," Lily replied, smiling weakly at him.
"I'm going to miss you," James whispered, stroking her cheek with his finger.
"I'm going to miss you, too..." Lily sighed.

"Hey, lovebirds! Care to get this show on the road!" Remus called, sticking his head out of the back window and winking at them.
"Just a second, Remus," Lily told him, holding up her finger. She turned back to James and pulled him a little further from the car.
"Lily?" he asked, watching her carefully.
"James, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, but you were so excited about your big promotion and then work got all hectic and it never seemed like the right time..." she trailed off and glanced over at Remus, still waiting in the car.
He gave her an encouraging smile and then turned back to his book to give James and Lily their privacy.
"Well, what is it?" James asked.
"When we were back at Hogwarts for our workshops, I kinda well...Ikindakissedanotherguybutitdidn'tmeananythingandhe'sasleezeandi'msosorry, James," she rushed through her words all in one breath and then let her eyes fall to the ground, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"You what?' James asked her, his jaw set firm.
"I'm so sorry...you have to believe me, James, I'm sorry," she threw herself on him and shook against his chest.
James threw her back and grabbed her by the shoulders. She looked away towards the house and cried. "No, damnit, look at me!" James yelled, and Lily turned her eyes back to him; her nose was running and her cheeks were flushed. She glanced quickly around the neighborhood at all of the other houses; she now regretted choosing to do this outside where everyone can see.
"Look at me," he ordered again, and she does. "What did you do?"
Lily shook her head, "I'm sorry..."
"Say it...SAY IT! C'mon, tell me to my face...say it!" he screamed as the tears course down her face. Remus has the door open, ready to intervene if he needs to.
"I..." she spoke wobbly, gasping for a small breath. "I kissed another guy-" James let go of her and turned sharply, heading back towards the house. Lily ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to turn him around.
"I was drunk...I-Ididn't know what I was doing, James-"
He slapped her hands away from his chest where they were laying. "Don't touch me," he growled, as he reached the door.
"But, James.." she whispered.
He looked at her, hatred searing through his eyes and burning a hole in her heart. "I don't want to hear it...and I don't want to be around you right now. Have a good term, Miss Evans."
And with that, he stormed into the house, slamming the door behind him.
Lily turned to see Remus standing at the end of the walkway, his hands in his pocket. She walked slowly to him and he held his arms out for her to fall into him.
"Everything is so messed up..." she sniffled against his shoulder.
Remus rubbed Lily's hair and rocked her side to side. "Shhh, that's it...I got you, Lily."

Remus knocked on Lily's door that night to go down to dinner. She called for him to come in and he turned the handle and entered.
"I'll just be a sec!" she called from the bathroom.
"Girls..." Remus muttered, shaking his head. He took a seat on the end of her bed and back backwards. Closing his eyes, he heard the sound of water running in the bathroom and rested as he waited for Lily to be ready.
"Ok, let's go!" she said, bright and chipper as she emerged from the bathroom.
"No...I changed my mind...your bed is too comfy," he replied, curling up on top of her down comforter.
Lily rolled her eyes at Remus and slapped him hard on the thigh. "Get outta my bed, let's go!"
"Oww!" he cried, opening his eyes to look at Lily. "You're abusive, you know that?" he told her.
She just grinned and slipped on a pair of flip-flops as she turned the door handle and pulled the door open.
"Ladies first," she grinned and he hit her lightly on the shoulder before prancing through the doorway.

They walked slowly down the halls and stairways to the Great Hall, not talking for a few minutes.
"So...you look like you're doing better," Remus commented, and she threw him a weary smile.
"I'm just trying to block it all out...I can't afford to be a mess right now. Students will be arriving tomorrow, classes the next day...this is real life now, Remus; I have to put on my brave face and push through it, so that's what I'm doing," she replied.
"Well, you're a strong girl, Lils, and you know I'm always proud of you, no matter what, right?" he told her.
"Of course," she smiled and curled her arm around Remus' waist. He lay his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as they walked.
"It hurts...keeping it all bottled up..." she whispered against his chest.
"I know," he said, kissing her lightly on the top of her head and rubbing her shoulder as they entered the Great Hall.

For the next 24 hours, Lily and Remus were inseparable. They skirted the halls and turned corners whenever they saw Jason coming and Remus kept Lily's mind off of everything that was going on with games and long conversation in front of fire about nothing at all.
Lily appreciated everything Remus was doing for her, and she was glad now more than ever that he was her friend.

The beginning of term feast went well, with opening remarks from Dumbledore and amazing food, as always. Lily and Remus sat next to each other, on the other side of the table from Jason to avoid confrontation.
Lily and Remus also got a chance to catch up with some of their old friends who were going into their final year at Hogwarts this year. They talked about how weird it would be, now that they were teachers and their friends were still students, but Lily promised not to go all psycho-teacher on them and they smiled and congratulated her and Remus, the girls eyeing him even more now than they had last year. Lily winked at him as one of the girls in the 6th year stroked his arm as she talked to him.
Lily shook her head, These girls...always love a challenge, don't they?

- - - -

Lily stood up in front of her classroom the next morning and smiled as she looked around at all of the first years fidgeting in their seats, probably just about as nervous for their first class as she was to teach it.
"Welcome to Introduction to Transfiguration!" she said, beaming around at them. One of the small boys in front, a mop of black hair that reminded her of James' sitting atop his head, already had his notebook and quill out. He was watching her carefully, ready to jot down anything and everything she said. Lily winked at him and he turned a slight shade of pink and slid further down in his chair.
"Ok, well, you should all know that this is my first year teaching and I am just as scared as you all must be, but I think that if we stick together, we can all make it through this year in one piece, right?" She looked around at her class; a few of the kids were nodding nervously. "And maybe," she added, picking up her wand, "We might even learn a little something we never knew before!" She tapped the book in front of her with a flourish and grinned as the kids gasped as they watched it sprout feathers and transform into a parrot right in front of their eyes. A few kids clapped and Lily laughed.
"Ok, everyone get out your wands. Before you can do that, you need to learn a few simple things about your wands and how to use them!"

- - - -

Lily fell onto the couch in front of the fire that night and sighed at the end of her first day.
She heard the entrance to the common room open and watched as Remus appeared out of the hallway, his hair sticking up in all directions and splotch of ink on his left cheek. He walked over and plopped down next to her, and she let him lean his head on her shoulder.
He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "How was your first day?" he asked Lily.
"It was great! Teaching is so much fun, I love it!" she said excitedly. She still had some energy left, something her friend seemed to be seriously lacking.
"You?" she asked.
"Oh, it was good...tiring though, I'll tell ya.." he replied, snuggling against Lily's shoulder, his eyes still shut.
"Your kids' a handful?" she asked, rubbing his head.
"Nah...the kids are great - well, except for the Slytherin's, of course - it's just a lot more work than I thought. I've got some newfound respect for all of our teachers, I'll say," he replied, sitting up and trying to fix his hair.
"I got it," Lily giggled, smoothing his hair down with her hand. "And you got a little schmutz right there," she added, licking her finger and rubbing it against Remus' cheek.
"Ew!" he cried out and she rubbed with her thumb. "You're gross, Lily Evans!"
She laughed and pulled out her wand. "It's not coming off, lemme try..." and as she flicked her wand, the ink stain disappeared from Remus' skin."Looks like those "great kids" got the better of you," she giggled, throwing her legs across his lap and lying back against the couch cushion.
"Yeah well..."
"Oh!" she squealed, quickly sitting back up.
"What?" Remus asked.
"I meant to tell you...one of the students in my first year class got his match to turn into a needle on the first try!" she told him, excitement coursing through her eyes.
"Congratulations!" Remus told her. "Must be nice having a mini-version of yourself in a class...must really bring you back," he joked, adopting a melancholy tone.
Lily hit him on the shoulder. "Shut up!" She threw a pillow at Remus' head which hit him full on and she broke into a fit of giggles at his stunned face.
"Oh, you are so dead!" he said, launching himself on her. The two tumbled to the ground in heap as Remus tickled Lily all over. She tried to laugh but there was no air in her lungs to make a sound, and for a second, Lily felt like everything was back to normal as it had been at Hogwarts the year before.

Jason watched Lily and Remus play-fight from his room. He studied her face as she let out round after round of giggles and scowled. He shut his door and fell onto his bed, suddenly scheming how to get her to do that with him...
She will be mine...